One-third of the world's 7.3 billion people are smallholder farmers and their families who produce nearly 70 percent of all food consumed worldwide on 60 percent of the planet's arable land. For what sounds like a major part of the global economy, you would expect these farmers to be relatively well off and financially secure. But they aren't. In fact, they represent the majority of the poorest and hungriest people on earth.

Cathryn Wellner's insight:

Big Ag has such power it is easy to lose sight of the fact that most of the crops they raise are commodity crops rather than the diverse foodstuffs we like to see on our tables. Hats off to smallholder farmers.

High consumption of livestock products could have serious consequences for people and the environment, according to a recent article. The article emphasizes that the demand for livestock-based foods has soared over the last few decades. The article’s authors emphasize that, if left unchecked, worldwide meat consumption and production could lead to species loss, climate risks, poverty, and even social breakdown as large meat-producing companies continue to displace small-scale farmers.

Thirsty cities, fields and livestock drink deeply from aquifers, natural sources of groundwater. But a study of three of the most-tapped aquifers in the United States shows that overdrawing from these resources could lead to difficult choices affecting not only domestic food security but also international markets.

Cathryn Wellner's insight:

This is not just in the U.S. Aquifers everywhere are being drawn down.

California’s historic drought appears to be matched by severe dry spells on three other continents. Brazil, North Korea and South Africa are bearing the brunt of much-lower-than-average precipitation, wreaking

Cathryn Wellner's insight:

It's simple. No water, no food. Less water, less food. What is not as simple is doing something about it, but we must.

Changing global environmental conditions caused by humans could negatively impact the health of millions by altering key crops, say two studies. One study found declining food pollinators such as bees could lead to decreased nutrient-rich crops linked with staving off disease. A second study found increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide could lead to lower zinc levels in food and expanded zinc deficiency.

Cathryn Wellner's insight:

Not a pretty picture, but we can change this if we work together and if we keep our world leaders' feet to the fire of responsibility.

To beef up their herds, many cattle ranchers give their livestock steroid growth hormones. Manure-laden runoff from cattle feed yards carries these endocrine-disrupting compounds into the environment, where they can adversely affect fish and other wildlife—and taint drinking water supplies. But these compounds also stick to dust, and a new study finds that airborne particulate matter may be a significant source of steroids from beef cattle feed yards in arid regions (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2015, DOI:10.1021/acs.est.5b01881).

Cathryn Wellner's insight:

Unprescribed pharmaceuticals are making their way into the environment.

Soret’s studies have found that vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diets (eating meat fewer than once a week) produce a bit less than half of the associated greenhouse gas emissions as a meat-eating diet. His work has been echoed by U.K. researchers, whose study found an even greater reduction in greenhouse gases. Both of these studies looked at tens of thousands of real diets that people were eating, not modeled or theoretical plates. Both also found significant health benefits, including a longer life, associated with vegetarian and semi-vegetarian diets.

French criminal court launches landmark inquiry into “involuntary homicide" of James-Bernard Murat, who spent 40 years spraying a carcinogenic pesticide on his Bordeaux grapes and died of lung cancer in 2012

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